Self-lubricating leaf-spring.



H. RlGBY.

SELF LUBHICTING LEAF SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 5, IQFIII` l ,288 Patented Dec. 24, 1918.'

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'narran earns ra' v FE.

nonnen meer, or immensen, NEW JERSEY.

snLF-Ltriaiacarme Laar-sintiera.`

Specic'atton ofi-Letters Fatent. Patented Dec. 241, 1918.

- Application led November 5, 1913. Serial No. 261,253.

To all whom t may concern.'

of. New Jersey, have invented a new and improved Self-LubricatingLeaf-Spring, of-

which the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description. I Y Theinvention relates to leaf springs such as shown and described in theapplication' for Letters Patent vof the United States,

Serial No. -201.696, filed by me on November Y TheV ob]ect of theinvention is to provide a new and improved self lubricating 'leaf'vspringmore especially designed for use on c y @automobiles and othervehicles and devices and varranged toinsure a continuous and eifectivelubrication of the leaves Without requiring attention on the part of theowner and to reduce lto a minimum the Wear incident to the rubbing ofthev superimposed leaves one on the other.

siliency. thereby reducing to a minimum cost of 11p-keep expensesregardless of road conditions also adding to' the comfort and pleasureof the occupants of the vehicle. Another object is to permit ofmanufacturing the leaves from rolled steel stock thereby producing theleaf springs at a comparatively low cost. i

With these and other objects in view the linvention consists of certainnovel featuresl Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same With the axle andits casing shownpin section;

' Fig. 3 is an enlarged vcross section 'ofthe same on the line 3-3'ofFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is aA planview of the stock from A which the leaves areinade;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion'of'one of the leaves with the centralbolt in position; and

. Be it kno-wn that 1, HOLDEN Rienr,fa citizen of the. United States,and a resident of Patersomin the county of Passaic and' State.

Another l object yis to assure aogoodspring action and re- 7 Fig. 6 is across section of the saine.

The improved leaf spring 10 illustrated in the drawings is in the formof a semifelliptical spring, but it iseXpressly understood that I do notlimit myself to this particular type ofleaf spring as the vimprovementdescribed in detail may be applied to quarter- :elliptica'l leaf springsor other types of leaf springs. 'As shown, the superimposed leaves 11vare :fastened by clips 12 to the casing 13 of the axle 14 and the leavesare connected 4With each other at the middle by a standard bolt 15having a Washer 16 and a nut 17 'and Which Washer 16 rests on the top ofthe uppermost leaf 11.

Each of the leaves 11 is provided with a -fiat smooth undersurfacev andeach of the leaves except the top one is provided on the topwithlongitudinally extending passage- Ways 20 and retarding and spreadingmenibers 2l in the form of bosses integral with the leaf. The.passageways 20 and thel bosses 21I are formed durin the process ofrolling the stock in a suita ly constructed' mill, and this stockshownin Fig. et is -cuttransversely according to the length of the spring tobe made by the spring manuv facturer. The passageways 20 are,vat least,

vtvvo in number and are sinuous yin shape, as plainly indicated in Figs.1, 4 and and the retarding and spreading members 21am arranged instaggered relation and are preferably of almond shape. The `upper faces',of the retarding and spreading members 21 are flush With the upperface of thecorre-v sponding leaf and the passageways 20, and theupper'facesof the members 21 are overlaid'by the fiat smooth face of thenext adjacent leaf.V It will be noticed that the lubricating oil has itsiiow through the passageways 20 retarded by the retarding and spreading'members 21 and the lubricating oil is spread Widthwise by the saidmembers to lcause'the lubricating oil to lubricate the contactingsurfaces of adjacent leaves 11.

' The grooves 20 are at the middle of each leaf connected with; anelongated aperture 22 formed centrall'yf; in -the leaf and through Whichaperture extends the standard bolt 15. as indicated in Fig. 5. that'thetapertures 22 of the several superimposed leaf springs are in registerwith each other and they form oil Wells on opposite sides of the bolts15 to permit the oil lin the said oil wells to readily pass to the 1twillv be noticed.

35. overlaid by the fiat smooth face of the next passageways to bedistributed practically.. throughout the length of the leaf spring asWell as the Widththereof owing to the retardation in the flow of the oilby the members 21 and the rubbing action of the leaves one upon theother thereby causing the distribution of the lubricant between theleaves. Itwill also be noticed that by the arrangement described the oilis retained in the passageways 20 and hence the spring leaves are notliable to become dry .and to rust at their contacting faces.

' In order to supply the oil wells formed by the registering apertures22 with oil use is made ofr an oil supplying device 30, preferably o'fthe construction more fully shown and described in the application forLetters Patent of the United States above referred to so that furtherdetailed description of the same is not deemed necessary.

Having thus described my lnventlon, I

claim'as new and desire to secure by Lettersl Patent f 1.. A leafspring,comprising a. plurality of superimposed' leaves, each 'having Aone faceflat and smooth and having the otherl -face provided with longitudinallyextending passageways for a lubricating oil, and integral retarding andspreading means in the'passageways'to retard the flow of thelubricating' oil inl the passageways and to spread the lubricating oilwidthwise between the contacting faces of adjacent leavesQthe saidgrooves and retarding means being adjacent leaf, and means supplyingsaid said retarding and spreading members be-` ing lush with thecorresponding face of the leaf to provide retarding means for retardingthe flow of the lubricating oil and spreading the same Widtliwise of theleaf.

3. A leaf spring, comprising a-plurality of superimposed leaves,- eachhaving one face flat and smooth and havingfthe otherl face provided withlongitudinal sunken pas'- sageways over which extends the fiat smoothface of the next adjacentleaf, the said'passageways being at least twoin number and -v of sinuous shape, and retarding and spreading bossesformed integral with the. leaf and spaced apart to space'thepas'sageways bosses being staggered'and being approximately of almondshape, the said bosses re-' tarding the flow of the lubricating oil in.

the passageways and spreading the said lubricating oil Widthwise betweenthe contacting faces of adjacent leaves, f l HOLDEN RIGBY.'

apart, the` said retarding and spreading 1

